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Ospreys vs Rotors

JonTay

Member
Before there is too much violence and bloodshed, I'd like to set the background for this question. In two days I'll be finishing Primary putting in my selection preferences. For the life of me I cannot break the tie between Ospreys or Rotors in my mind. Every helicopter pilot I talk to says the Osprey is generally incapable and a poor airframe for its missions, while every (two) Opsreys pilots I've spoken with say that those are old misconceptions and that helo guys are basically just jealous (paraphrasing).

So here are the questions I can't reconcile:

Is the Osprey generally unsuited for combat operations because it's generally unprotected and flying with a skid escort negates the speed advantage of being a tiltrotor in the first place?

Can it really not land in sandy environments?

Are the qualifications you'll get flying Ospreys really that huge of an advantage over rotors should you choose to pursue a civilian career after the Marine Corps?

And finally, a question that I understand may get complicated, is there any real "rift" in the Ospreys community between Phrog transitions and purebred Osprey pilots? (A skid pilot I spoke to said they had a lot of trouble planning with Ospreys because of this)

Thank you for any help

Let the games begin
 

DocT

Dean of Students
pilot
I'll see if I can answer your questions. I'm a phrog transition guy so I've seen both sides of the story.

Before there is too much violence and bloodshed, I'd like to set the background for this question. In two days I'll be finishing Primary putting in my selection preferences. For the life of me I cannot break the tie between Ospreys or Rotors in my mind. Every helicopter pilot I talk to says the Osprey is generally incapable and a poor airframe for its missions, while every (two) Opsreys pilots I've spoken with say that those are old misconceptions and that helo guys are basically just jealous (paraphrasing).

Helo pilots aren't jealous, they just don't know what they're talking about most of the time when it comes to another airframe. The Osprey isn't a helicopter, it's a tiltrotor. It does just fine in assault support (it's actual mission).

So here are the questions I can't reconcile:

Q: Is the Osprey generally unsuited for combat operations because it's generally unprotected and flying with a skid escort negates the speed advantage of being a tiltrotor in the first place?

A: No, that's false. The Osprey is not operating at helo altitudes unless it's in the terminal environment. Flying high and fast (relative to a helicopter) is safer in most tactical situations. Other aircraft can escort Ospreys on the way into the objective area if that's a mission requirement. Most of the time it's not.

Q: Can it really not land in sandy environments?

A: Yes, it can. RVLs (reduced visibility landings) aren't fun but the aircraft is equipped with systems to help mitigate that. It requires repetitions and it can be hard on the airplanes and engines but with practice you can get pretty damn good at it. You're not going to beat the cloud to the deck like in a Phrog. You have to embrace that you're going to lose visual on final.

Q: Are the qualifications you'll get flying Ospreys really that huge of an advantage over rotors should you choose to pursue a civilian career after the Marine Corps?

A: No. It's still considered powered lift by the FAA. That being said you're essentially flying an airplane, not a helicopter.

Q: And finally, a question that I understand may get complicated, is there any real "rift" in the Ospreys community between Phrog transitions and purebred Osprey pilots? (A skid pilot I spoke to said they had a lot of trouble planning with Ospreys because of this)

A: You really don't need to worry about this since there's really no phrog guys left to transition, but since you've asked: Yeah I've seen some of that but it's really not that big of a deal.

In most cases any conflict between transition and non-transition guys in a squadron can be boiled down to A: The phrog guys needs to shut the fuck up about flying phrogs. Yes it was fun but it's over. It's not coming back. B: The non-transition guy needs to stop thinking he was selected to be something special because he's an Osprey pilot. He's a bus driver just like the rest of us.

Look, the Osprey gets lots of hate from people because they don't understand it. It's new and it scares them because they can't put it into whatever category they want it to fit in. I was one of those people. It's good plane that does some crazy good things. It has problems too though, just like every other community. It's in very high demand and if you select it you will probably deploy more than most of your peers flying helos.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Oh and yeah you can avoid it all by going jets.;)
 

JonTay

Member
Well jets it is, the moderators can go ahead and close this thread


Just kidding.
I really appreciate you answering all of those DocT, that clarifies a lot!
 
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